Welcome back to another episode of Nach Daily with Koheles, chapter 9.

As we mentioned in the introduction to Koheles, Chazal actually wanted to hide this Megila because at a superficial glance it contains ideas antithetical to Judaism. This is one of those chapters where many of the pessukim seem to go against some of the basic tenets of our faith such as exact Divine providence, Divine retribution, and reward for the righteous in the world to come.

The perek opens with Koheles explaining that he has realized that man’s choices and attitudes are predetermined by God. Being smart or righteous has nothing to do with you and everything to do with Him. God left the world to chance.

Whether you’re a Tzaddik or a Rasha, honest or a liar, your intentions are pure or impure, you will eventually die.

Certainly, there is nothing new under the sun. There is no judge and there is no judgment. People have driven themselves mad and are full of evil. But since you will die anyway, what’s the point in driving yourself crazy?

Verse 5 says, “The living know they will die, but the dead know nothing. They have no more reward.” The Metsudos explains this as referring to the fact that the dead can no longer accumulate reward in the next world through doing mitzvos.

It should be noted that while you can’t actually do mitzvos in the next world, the deeper seforim explain that there is still reward from your residual actions done here. For example, if you gave tzedaka which is still of benefit, you will consistently gain reward in the next world.

Based on this, Rebbe Nachman explains, the main thing is to strive to be in this world and the next at the same time! You do this by leaving children (or students) who have incorporated your da’as, wisdom and values so that you will constantly be uplifted in the next world. As the main part of a person is the da’as, by leaving your da’as here either through children or a sefer, it’s as if you can be in two places at once.

In verses 6 through 13, Koheles urges a person to drink and be happy. As everything is preordained, you might as well enjoy it while you can.

Being smart doesn’t mean you’ll make money, being strong doesn’t mean you’ll win wars, knowing a lot doesn’t mean you’ll be able to find favor in others’ eyes. A man can be caught off guard without warning, like a fish being trapped in a net.

From verses 14 to 18, Shlomo relates a metaphor of a king coming to destroy a small city with a small population. There was actually one poor wise man there who could have saved them with his wisdom, but no one even thought to ask him. Shlomo concludes, in pasuk 18, that “wisdom is more valuable than weapons of war.” His wisdom could have overthrown and overpowered the invading king, yet no one listened.

The Targum explains that the King is the yetzer hara and the wise man is the yetzer tov. The yetzer tov has the ability to stop the yetzer hara from completely vanquishing it but in our “busyness” we forget about its powers and let our lower side rule over us. We ignore our higher, Divine side and indulge our baser selves.

Stay tuned to the next episode of NachDaily. Thank you for listening, and have a wonderful day.